Wireless Mesh Networks

By
Abdullah M. AlGhamdi
ama2172@columbia.edu

802.11 WLAN

Traditional Wireless Mesh Network

802.11 x:
INFRASTRUCTURE
MODE

802.11 x: AD-HOC MODE

802.11 x:
INFRASTRUCTURE
MODE

802.11 x:
INFRASTRUCTURE
MODE

802.11s Wireless Mesh

Network

IEEE 802.11s
802.11s is an amendment for mesh
networking to the IEEE 802.11 WLAN,
approved to forward to Standards Board
Review Committee (RevCom) in June 2011.
Integrates mesh networking services and
protocols with 802.11 at the MAC Layer.
Compatible with higher layer protocols.
Extensible to allow support for diverse
applications and future innovation.
Use 802.11i security.

IEEE 802.11s: Routing

mandatory path selection protocol: a hybrid
(proactive/reactive) traffic-aware protocol
named HWMP (Hybrid Wireless Mesh Protocol)
Airtime Link metric, ca

Bt 1
ca O

r 1 ef
O: overhead latency
Bt: test frame size (1024 bytes)
r: data rate in Mb/s used to TX the test frame
ef: measured test frame error rate.

be
As
described
we
described
in the
following
the where
use
subsections.
of frame
the DS
ags, we should
noticeforwarding,
that both are
set to
by
a mesh
network,
forwarding,
i.e. multihop
capabilit

eroare
in present.
ad hoc 802.11 frames. In an ad hoc network, peer-to-peer transfers can
IEEE 802.11s
Frame Formatin a way that should not be confused with that proposed
appen
opportunistically
Fig.
19.9 shows the
general structure of an IEEE 802.11 frame extended b
octetsHeader
of an 802.11
frameframe
contain
the
Frame
Control
the
y two
aMesh
mesh
network,
where
i.e. multihop
forwarding,
capabilitie
(included
in theforwarding,
frame
body).
Teld
he and
Mesh
Header is represented
d fourth bits of this eld identify the frame type, as shown in Fig. 19.7.
e present.
Fig. 19.10 and contains four elds.
Fig. 19.9 shows the general structure of an IEEE 802.11 frame extended by a
esh Header (included in the frame body). T he Mesh Header is represented in
g. 19.10 and contains four elds.

IEEE 802.11s: MAC Frame

F ig. 19.7 802.11s frame types.

es those two bits, there are also four more bits devoted to a frame subtype.
n, for instance, is a management Fframe
(0x0)802.11s
of the beacon
subtype
(0x8),
ig. 19.9
M A C frame
structure.
acknowledgement is a control frame (0x1) of subtype 0xD.
802.11s is an amendment to 802.11, the frames it introduces must fall into
pre-existing categories. Initially the reserved (0x3) type was considered for
ffic. Instead, it was decided F
toig.
extend
data and
management
frames in
19.9 the
802.11s
M AC
frame structure.
wing ways:

data exchanged between MPs aretransported by Mesh Dat a frames, dened

as data frames (type 0x2), where a mesh header is included in the frame
body; and
mesh-specic management frames,
belong
to type
F ig. such
19.10as PREP
802.11sorMPREQ,
AC frame
M esh
Header.

IEEE 802.11s:Additional
Features
Mesh Deterministic Access (MDA)
Congestion Control, briey addressed
(beyond the scope of the standard).
Power savings: Power Save
Supporting MPs and Power Saving
MPs.
Mesh Security Association (MSA):
provides authentication and privacy.

IEEE 802.11s: Proposed

Enhancements
Resources Reservation: using
DARE protocol (Distributed end-toend Allocation of time slots for REaltime), uses RTR & CTR in addition to
RTS & CTS.
Rate Adaptation: exploit the short
inter-nodes distance in high-density
networks.
Multi-Channel: FFMAC (Fast
Forward Medium Access Control)

Planning Arubas Outdoor RF Planner makes it easy for solution providers to design the mesh to meet
customers requirements. Outdoor RF Planner also provides ongoing visibility into network performance. The
Aruba tool is purpose-built for outdoor applications.

Assessment of Urban WMN

Outdoor RF Planner automatically calculates bandwidth, distances, link budget, gain and coverage for the
mesh network. It uses real-world data to show geographical and rendered RF from antenna polar pattern data.
Completed plans with 3D mapping make it easier to visualize the network.

uba Networks

With Arubas RF Outdoor Planner, organizations can design the mesh network and
gain visibility into ongoing performance.

Wireless Mesh

Assessment of Urban WMN

Framework proposed in MobiCom08,
September 1419, 2008.
Achieves higher accuracy with fewer
measurment than grid sampling
technique.
Uses three performance metrics:
coverage region, modulation rate,
redundancy.

Performance Metrics
Denitions
Coverage Region: a location is
covered by MAP if SNR is higher than
a Threshold.
Modulation Rate: the expected
physical layer modulation rate in use.
Redundancy: the number of mesh
nodes that covers the location.

Assumptions

Sector radius
Sector angular width

Source: Assessment of Urban-Scale Wireless Networks with a Small Number of Measurements,

MobiCom08, September 1419, 2008, San Francisco, California, USA.

nodes N ,number
metric Mand
) to output sectors w
the scattering and attenuation environment and is usually
at reference distance d0 , and the average path loss expropagation throughout. T he o
represented as a zero-mean Gaussian random variable [19].
ent . Our estimate for the SNR is then:
every
mesh
node n N
do Step
this
algorithm
are ,training
T herefore, instead of estimating based only on average1. For for
estimation function paramet
path loss, we also dene a terrain-informed
shadowing es-2. Pickric
d(n, p)
a
set
of rays at uniformly spaced
P dB (p, n)
10 log the specic
+ (n, p)
(1)deviation
exponent
.
timator,
(n,=p),P 0to capture
paths
d0
mesh node. Call this set R, where th
(higher or lower) from the average path loss. Recall that is chosen to be signicantly larger
Algorithm E stimate-M ono-M
e terrain-informed
estimator,
p), depends
a) the power,
the received power
P dB is a(n,
function
of theon
measured
number
of Nnal
outputMsectors.
nodes
, metric
)
ain
in T that
lie along
between
the mesh
P 0features
, at reference
distance
d0theray
, and the
average
path loss exeponent
n and point
p, b)
the width
of this
rays
intersection
. Our
estimate
for the
SNR
is then:
3. For each
ray every
in set mesh
R, a) node
traverse
t
1. For
n N
Received
Power:
h each feature, and c) the feature type and weight, C f .
terrain map identifying terrain featu
cically, (n, p) is dened as the sum of d(n,
each p)
intervening
2. type
Pick and
a setattenuation;
of rays at unifor
P dB (p, n) = P 0 10 log
+ (n, p)
(1) spective
b) es
ures impact on pathloss:
d0
meshMnode.
this set
R
of the metric
usingCall
a metric
estim
X
is chosen to be signican
T he terrain-informed
estimator,
(n, p) =
C f w(n,(n,
p, f )p), depends(2)on a) the the boundary point x on the ray, wh
number
nal output
sec
terrain features in T fthat
lie along the ray between the mesh and c) connect
theofboundary
points
F
node n and point p, b) the width of this rays intersection identify the estimated boundary of th
3. For each ray in set R, a)
erewith
F iseach
set of
all features
thefeature
terrain type
T , Cand
the
f is weight,
feature,
and c)inthe
Cf .
terrain map identifying t
ght
ofWhere:
a feature
(attenuation
in as
dBthe
persum
unitofdistance),
Specically,
(n,
p) is dened
each intervening4. Create a mapping from each rays an
spective
type
and attenua
metric
boundary
distan
Pp,dBf(p,n):
Received
power
from
MAP n nat point pthe estimated
w(n,
) is
the intersection
width
of the
ray between
features
impact
on pathloss:
of the metric M using a m
p onPthe
terrain feature
f . InXother
words, each distance
terrain
:
measured
power
at
reference
0
a step
functionpoint
to thexabov
boundary
on
p) =either adds
Cf
p, f ) from
(2)5. Curve t the
ure that a link (n,
intersects
orw(n,
subtracts
: Average pathloss exponent
mizing the
mean-squared
betwe
and
c) connect error
the bound
f F as a function of the
value of the estimated pathloss,
(n,p): terrain informed shadowing estimator boundaryidentify
distancethe
andestimated
step function
bou
ure weight C f .
where
F is set of
all features
in the terrain Tunit
, C f is the T he number of steps corresponds to t
weight
(attenuation
f: feature
he C
and
C f terms above
must
be determined per
with some distance)
F igure 2: T errain
of M ountain
V iew, Cfrom
A , for ea
4.map
Create
aheight
mapping
weight
of a feature
(attenuation
in dBbetween
per unit ray
distance),
lowed
sectors,
the
of
each
step
w(n,p,f):
intersection
width
the measurement study area.
asurement overhead for each network. Training measurethe
estimated
metric
boun
and w(n, p, f ) is the intersection width of the ray between n distance of each sector, and the cuto
and terrain
nt locations
are chosen randomly throughout the terrain,
and p on the terrain feature f . In other words, each terrain step are the sector border angles 1 a
ere each
intersects a subset
of thefterrain features in
each individual link.
accounts
for the
random t
F: link
set
features
5. Shadowing
Curve t
a step
function
feature
thatofaterrain
link intersects
either adds or subtracts from
variations
in
signal
strength
between
node
and
client
pairs
stion. T he training measurements must pass through a
mizing
the
mean-squared
6.
Output
set
of
sectors
with
borders
the value of the estimated pathloss, as a function of atthe
the same distance d(n, p), which are due to differences in
esentative set of terrain features to capture each feaboundary
distance
and st
the scattering and attenuation
environment
and is usually

Metric Estimation

estimation requires only a constant number of training measurements, the number of rays chosen in this step does not
increase the measurement budget. We then merge the sectors to result in thesectorized ranges also plotted (step function). Also, included are the measured ranges for this mesh
node for the angles where we have data points available.

Metric Estimation:
Sectorization
600

Estimate
Sectorization
Measured

Range (meters)

500
400
300
200
100
0
0

6. Me
to g

A lgor
surement
limiting
Mono-Me
tal numb
of the nu
mesh nod
sector. M
surement
ary rene
Estimate
measurem
nement
mesh nod
tiple mes

3.4 N
50

100

150
200
250
Angle (degrees)

300

350

400

F igure 3: E xample of sectorization process in algorithm E stimate-M ono-M etric-R egion for a G oogle-

Our pr
metric re
from the
to non-co
mation in

Framework Accuracy: Coverage

Metric

Framework Accuracy: Modulation

Rate Metric

Framework Accuracy: Redundancy

Metric

Refrences:
[1] Kawadia, P.R. Kumar, "A Cautionary Perspective on Cross-Layer
Design," in IEEE Wireless Communications, pp 3-11, February 2005.
[2] J. Dong, R. Curtmola, C. Nita-Rotaru, "Secure Network Coding for
Wireless Mesh Networks: Threats, Challenges, and
Directions",Computer Communications (2009),Volume: 32, Issue:
17, Publisher: Elsevier B.V., Pages: 1790-1801
[3] J. Robinson, R. Swaminathan, and E. Knightly, Assessment of
Urban-Scale Wireless Networks with a Small Number of
Measurements, Proceedings of ACM MobiCom 2008, San Francisco,
CA, September 2008.
[4] C.Viegas, F. Vasques Real-Time Communication in IEEE 802.11
Wireless Mesh Networks: A Prospective Study, 2011